WEKA

New Zealand is noted for the number of its flightless or
near flightless land birds, and of these the one most often
seen is the weka. There is one very variable species,
Gallirallus australis, which is divided into four
subspecies – one in the North Island, two in the South, and
one in Stewart Island.

North Island wekas, once widespread, are now very much
reduced both in range and in numbers and are common only in
the East Cape district. They also occur sporadically in
Northland. In the South Island the western weka of the
forests and alpine grasslands of the main mountain chain from
Marlborough and Nelson to Fiordland is now only locally
abundant. The eastern subspecies, once common over much of
the native grasslands from Marlborough to Otago, is almost
certainly extinct in its original range. Luckily, some which
were transferred to the Chathams in 1905 have become abundant
there and an attempt has recently been made to re-establish
the species in Canterbury. The result of this experiment is
not yet known. A fourth subspecies occurs in fair numbers on
Stewart Island and has been introduced to some of its
off-shore islets and to Solander and Macquarie Islands.

In those parts where wekas are still relatively common,
their furtive curiosity makes them a familiar sight around
houses or camps as they patrol in search of edible scraps or,
in fact, of anything unfamiliar and transportable. Wekas also
feed on berries, insects, worms, lizards, crustaceans, eggs,
and young of birds – even mice, rats, rabbits, and,
occasionally, stoats.

Their predominant colour is rich brown mottled with black;
in some areas the whole plumage is almost black. The
reddish-brown bill, about 2 in. long and stout and pointed,
is a formidable weapon. The tail is pointed too and is almost
constantly being flicked – a sign of unease and a
characteristic feature of the behaviour of the rail family,
to which wekas belong. Both sexes are alike, the male being
slightly larger than the female. Nests are made on the ground
under cover of thick vegetation, and consist of grass or
similar material made into a bowl in which about four buff
eggs blotched with brown and mauve are laid. Both sexes
incubate. The size of a weka is approximately equal to that
of a domestic hen.

The common contact call is a loud, reedy cooeét cooet
cooet, given with a rising inflection. During the
breeding season a rapid drumming note seems to be connected
with territorial behaviour.

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How to cite this page: . 'WEKA', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966.Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 23-Apr-09URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/1966/weka